The number of council tenants on Universal Credit in rent arrears has more than doubled in just three months.

East Riding Council figures show that last year Universal Credit (UC) tenants in arrears rose by 151 per cent, from 154 tenants on September 5 to 387 on December 11.

In turn, the value of arrears to the council has trebled from £99,639 to £293,494, while the total number of UC tenants has grown from 221 to 560 during the same period.

In a report to a scrutiny committee, Paul Bellotti, the council's director of environment and neighbourhood services, said the roll-out of UC has had the most significant effect on the rising levels of rent arrears, partly due to the delay in payment to tenants.

What does the council say it is doing to resolve the arrears?

Mr Bellotti said in the report: "Rising levels of rent arrears continue to be an area of concern for the council following the introduction of UC.

"Whilst this must be regarded within the context of all other social housing providers experiencing rising levels of rent arrears, every effort will continue to be made by all staff and managers involved in the rent collection process to assist tenants to pay their rent liability."

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The report adds the council has a rents team consisting of five FTE staff, and workloads have increased due to the complexities caused by the increasing numbers of tenants moving onto UC.

How tenants are being helped

Since January 7, 2019, all new tenants will receive a text message at the start of their tenancy confirming their rent account number, promoting payment of their rent by direct debit. It is designed to signpost tenants to information on how to pay rent and what to do if they are struggling to pay.

The council's revenues and benefits service are applying data analytics on rent arrears data to profile arrears cases to improve the efficiency of what staff focus on, sign-posting tenants to apply for discretionary housing payments and making referrals to its welfare visiting team and debt advice agencies.

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Universal Credit news

The service will also improve tenant engagement and communication by promoting a "rent first culture" amongst tenants and council staff. Tenants will also be texted a reminder to pay their rent at critical points, such as when they are about to receive a UC payment.

Around 7,000 tenancy changes and 25,000 recovery notices were processed in 2017/18, while 42 council tenants were evicted for non-payment of rent.

What is Universal Credit?

It is a benefit designed to help people with their living costs. It is paid monthly and will replace a number of benefits which are being taken out of the equation in a bid to streamline the system.

East Riding Council states that when a claimant is transferred onto UC, there can be up to a seven-week period between an applicant claiming UC and the payment being made by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

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